Green Bay 20, Tampa Bay 3
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 21, 2014
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Temperature:
75°
Head Official:
Terry McAulay
Attendance:
64247
By SportsDirect Inc.
Packers 20, Buccaneers 3: Aaron Rodgers threw for 318 yards and a touchdown as visiting Green Bay got big performances from Eddie Lacy, Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson to clinch a playoff berth.
Rodgers was 31-of-40, including 11 passes to Cobb (career-high 131 yards) and nine to Nelson (113 yards, TD), while Lacy contributed 99 yards and a score on 17 carries. Clay Matthews recorded 2.5 of the seven sacks for the Packers (11-4), who also got two from Julius Peppers while holding the Buccaneers to 109 total yards.
Tampa Bay's Josh McCown was 12-of-26 for 147 yards while Vincent Jackson had a team-high 60 yards on three receptions. Doug Martin was limited to 17 yards on 10 carries for the Buccaneers (2-13), who held the ball for less than 22 minutes in falling to 0-7 at home.
Lacy opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 44-yard scoring rumble - his longest rush of the season and the longest TD run of his career. The Packers' next possession ended with a missed 48-yard field-goal attempt by Mason Crosby, but he made up for it shortly thereafter with a 42-yarder to make it 10-0 before Patrick Murray's 43-yarder at the buzzer created a seven-point halftime margin.
The Bucs stopped the Packers on fourth-and-goal from the 1 midway through the third, but they quickly punted and gave good field position to Green Bay, which unleashed a 12-play, 56-yard drive that ended with Crosby's 25-yard kick for a 13-3 lead with 10:19 to go in the contest. After Tampa Bay's eighth punt of the day, Rodgers drove Green Bay 71 yards, with the final yard coming on a third-down TD pass to Nelson that secured the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Matthews made six tackles - including three for a loss - and recorded four quarterback hits for Green Bay, which entered 3-4 away from home - with only one of those victories coming by more than three points. ... Without the late TD pass, Rodgers would have gone two straight games without throwing for a score for the first time since becoming the team's starting quarterback in 2008. ... Lacy went over 1,000 yards for the second straight season. He also scored a rushing TD for the fifth time in six games.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Green Bay |
|
Tampa Bay |
Eddie Lacy
|
Player |
Doug Martin
|
17 |
Attempts |
10 |
99 |
Yards |
17 |
5.8 |
Avg Yards |
1.7 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
44 |
Long |
4 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Green Bay
|
431 |
121 |
310 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
7.0 |
1 |
Tampa Bay
|
109 |
16 |
93 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
2 |
Upcoming Games
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Buccaneers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .154 after a loss.
-
Green Bay will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Packers have a W/L % of .636 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.